


anchor

by minachandler



Series: you're everything to me and you always have been [20]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s04e16 Run Iris Run, F/M, Missing Scene, Post-Coital Cuddling, Shameless Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 17:16:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14024928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minachandler/pseuds/minachandler
Summary: Set post-4x16. In bed, Barry and Iris finally get some quality time as husband and wife.





	anchor

**Author's Note:**

> You know the drill - E rating, not for kiddies, best not to read this at work, etc etc. But hey this was fun to write even if it took me a while to get it down. I loved 4x15 and 4x16 - they were standout episodes in what has otherwise been a bit of a hit-and-miss season. Anyway I hope you like :)

“We have gotta stop having all this ‘thank God you're not dead’ sex,” Iris says as she rests her head against Barry’s bare chest. He's so warm, radiating speedster heat and slick with sweat, but when her palm slides down his abdomen she can feel his muscles tense a bit.

“Why, was that not okay?” he blurts out uncertainly, seemingly before he can stop himself, and Iris laughs.

“Babe, really? After I lost count of the number of times I came in the last three hours -”

“Seven,” Barry offers sheepishly. “But -”

“I didn't mean it like _that_ ,” Iris says, shoving gently at his shoulder. “You know you always make me feel good - and so much more than _okay_.”

She feels him exhale and his breath makes her hair flutter a little.

“I'm glad,” he says quietly, and he sounds reassured, and that only serves to make her smile more for several moments.

It fades, though, and she says, “I just meant - since you came home… things have been so chaotic. And sometimes I wish we could have a few days alone. You know. When the only time you use your powers is to get pizza, not stop a nuclear bomb from going off or to save me from some guy who put a knife to my neck and then you losing your powers in the process.”

Barry raises his eyebrows with a mock-serious look on his face. “I mean, sure, pizza’s good, but I would also have to use my powers for the very important purpose of going down on my wife.” Iris smiles and shakes her head fondly.

“Right, yeah, well, you know I will happily take both.”

He grins back. “So would I.” He reaches out, tucks her hair behind her ear. “Something’s on your mind,” he says softly, his smile fading a little. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just… wondering about my destiny, I guess?”

“You mean as Queen Flash, or as Iris West-Allen, ace reporter?”

“Okay, firstly, I wasn’t a speedster long enough for Cisco to give me a regular codename, let alone a _royal_ one -”

“Uh-uh. You deserve nothing less, Iris - as the leader of this team, superpowers or not, if anyone deserves a crown, it’s you.”

“That’s sweet, babe,” Iris says gratefully, and for a moment she wonders if she’ll ever tire of Barry gazing at her like that - like he loves her with his heart and body and soul. Like he would do anything for her.

(He would.)

“And second?” he asks after a second.

“You’re right,” she says slowly. “I was thinking about being a journalist again. You know, it was because of you that I even chose it as my major in the first place.”

“I remember.”

“But… Barry, you know that rush you get when you save someone with your speed? Or when you take down the bad guy or… running on water - and the whole time -”

“- feeling that electricity running through you?” Barry finishes, and when their eyes meet it's with a different kind of understanding now they've really and truly been in each other’s shoes.

“Yeah. That feeling. When I felt it, creating that tidal wave, feeling the water on my heels and the lightning in my body - it was this high that I didn’t think I could ever feel again. I think the only time I had ever felt like that was the time I jumped out of that building working on a lead a couple years back and you caught me - and even then it wasn’t the same.”

Barry smiles. “It’s amazing, right?”

She can’t help but reach up and kiss him, now, and she takes him by surprise but then he kisses her back, and her hand moves to tap his thigh. “I mean - yeah. But, uh, not as amazing as _some_ things.” Barry laughs and covers her hand with his own, and their fingers slowly lace together as he squeezes her hand. “Anyway,” Iris says, “when Matthew gave you back your powers, I didn’t think I’d feel like that again. But then I did.”

“When?”

“When I was writing tonight. Usually I have to think about what I'm writing, really think but sometimes it just comes out in this - rush, and it's hard to explain, but I guess it was kind of like a dam that burst, you know? And honestly - I wonder how I went so long without it.”

“Well, you have had a lot to think about this last year alone,” Barry reasons. “It kind of figures that you'd have your hands full with the team.”

“I guess,” Iris murmurs. “But I get it now. The way you're connected with your speed - how it's a part of you.”

“It's a part of you too,” Barry replies. “And I don't just mean because for the past couple of days you've been a speedster. I mean - before that. _Way_ before that.”

Iris raises her eyebrows questioningly. “You mean because I got you out of the Speedforce with Cisco?”

“I mean, yeah, there's that… but I actually meant when I first got my powers. Do you remember when I first got up from the coma and I came to see you at Jitters?”

Iris nods, reaching up and running her hand through Barry’s hair, letting her palm press against the back of his neck. “Kinda hard to forget.”

“I don't think I realised it then, but when I look back, I'm sure that you were the one to jumpstart my powers.”

“I don't understand.”

“You told me that when I was in my coma my heart kept stopping. So I - put your hand right here and told you -”

And now Barry takes her hand, and just like that moment over three years ago, he puts her hand on his chest. And Iris can feel his heartbeat racing directly beneath her palm; when she looks up at him she remembers his exact words -

“It's still beating,” she says at the same time as him. And at this Barry's eyes light up and his smile widens.

“Yeah. And from then it was like - like the world was in slow motion and I could run for hundreds of miles - which I realised I could pretty soon after.”

“So you're saying that me touching you is what kickstarted your powers?”

“I meant it when I said you’re my lightning rod,” Barry tells her, and she can feel her heart soar at his words. “My anchor. The truth is that you've always been a part of my superpowers. Which is why I couldn't do this without you.”

“Well, hey, I couldn't have been the Flash for a couple days without _you_ ,” Iris counters. “I definitely couldn't have started my own tidal wave a day into being a speedster if it wasn't for you.”

“I have faith in what I see, babe, and what I've always seen,” Barry says softly, his thumb stroking her cheek. “And I don't just mean the woman I've loved for the better part of my life.”

“So what do you mean?”

“I mean I saw you literally jump into the line of fire to save people without hesitating. You've always been a hero, Iris, and you didn't need superspeed to prove that to anyone. And… when we got married you said I was your hero.”

She shifts a little and pulls Barry so he's sprawled on top of her now, and she feels his body instinctively react to the movement.

“Because you are,” Iris says.

“And it makes me so happy whenever you tell me that,” Barry says sincerely. “But you should know that you, Iris West-Allen, have been my hero pretty much for as long as I can remember. Whether you're behind a mask or the monitors or a blog - it's never mattered to me. And I know what it's like to question your self-worth and the part you play on this team. But you've always been my anchor. And I wouldn't be the person I am today without you.”

She puts her arms around his neck and kisses him. “I love you too. And that was really nice.” Barry just laughs, and Iris adds, “No, honestly, I don't think I realised how much I needed to hear that. But also, uh… thank you.”

Barry drops a kiss on her nose. “You know you never have to thank me for anything.”

“I know. I want to. For - making it my call about you getting your speed back.”

He quirks an eyebrow are her. “Well, you do know you're the boss, right? Of the team _and_ of me.”

Her hand is on the back of his neck and she moves it down, feeling the taut muscles in his shoulder blades. “I do know that. But I also know how much your powers are a part of you. How lost you were without them the last time.”

“Hey, if it's a choice between your happiness or me being a speedster, I know for sure which one I'd pick.” And now he reaches down, fingers treading a soft, slow path up the inside of her thigh, all the while looking her in the eyes. She lets out a moan of breathless assent, sighing when his fingertips meet the sticky warmth and then slide inside her. 

“You mean it?” Iris says after a second, her voice no more than a whisper.

“You're my wife,” he murmurs into her ear. “It's literally a no-brainer. I love you more than anything, Iris.” He finds her clit with his forefinger, making her hips jerk upwards, her thigh pressing up against the insistent hardness of his arousal, and she gasps suddenly. “Easy,” he adds softly with a faint chuckle.

“Barry…”

“Too much?” he asks, and she shakes her head.

“Just - a bit sensitive. Don't stop.” She means it. She loves that he can still do this - still make her fall completely apart, her walls tensing around his fingers, just from his gentle touch. And it's not just the hand he has between her legs that makes her feel like this, all hot and wet and ready for him - it's the arm that wraps around her waist, the soft kiss he drops on her shoulder, the sudden withdrawal of his hand as he brings it to his mouth and sucks his fingers clean.

(Iris can't stop herself moaning at this last, because seeing him like this, relishing the taste of her, makes her suddenly hungry for him, and she kisses him abruptly, not pulling away until he's completely out of breath.)

“What happened to no more ‘thank God you're not dead’ sex?” Barry says teasingly, panting, but when Iris runs her hand down his length his laughter becomes a groan.

“Fine. What about ‘thank God you can finally have some quality time with your wife’, then?”

“That does sound better,” Barry admits.

And Barry needs no further prompting; at last he lowers himself onto Iris, pressing into her and filling her right to the hilt, and _God_ is he doing absolutely everything for her as he asks her if she's okay and she kisses him in assent. She rocks her hips against him, burying her face into his shoulder, and maybe she shouldn't but she sinks her teeth into his skin because the sound of him saying her name like a whispered supplication, holy and reverent and in complete and utter worship of his wife, fills her heart with fire as she moves with him.

“Good thing I can speed-heal again, huh?” Barry says with a faint laugh as Iris pulls away and sees she's left a mark.

“Sorry,” Iris mumbles against his collarbone. She can taste sweat on her tongue when she plants a kiss there, but Barry shakes his head.

“Don’t be sorry. You know I like it.”

Then at this Iris lifts her face up to his so she can kiss him hard, bruising his mouth where it's already red and shiny. She knows his cues: the way he shudders against her tells her that he's close, and he's panting with effort, sweat trickling down his forehead. Together they move, Barry thrusting into her, and she whimpers when he hits her favourite spot, while his hand cradles her breast. Then her hands slip down, down his back and hips, settling on his ass and bringing him closer to her, deeper inside her.

In the end she comes first, reaching her climax while they're still entwined together, arching into him, when she can still feel the full weight of her husband on top of her, his bare torso flush against her naked breasts. And Barry, ever the gentleman, waits until her body comes to a juddering halt and her breath leaves her before he buries his face into the crook of her neck so he can spill inside her. They're both panting heavily when he moves off her.

Iris is covered in sweat - his and hers - and she's sure she looks a sight, hair drenched, lips swollen, shadows under her eyes from a combination of lack of sleep and tiredness from their multiple rounds of lovemaking. But when she puts her arm around her husband and he pulls her close, hugging her to him, even if she misses the feeling of electricity crackling through every nerve in her body, she knows it’s always going to be a part of her.

After all, the Flash is by her side, _her_ anchor, and that’s exactly where he’s meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it! I would love to know what you think, so if you have a moment, please leave a comment in that box down there. I hope you have a great day, and thank you for reading :)


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